The Mononoke of Forest Keep
by kohmaru
Summary: Your typical shrine burns down, girl moves to country manor, girl meets boy, boy wants to kill girl stories. Siskle and Roper give it two thumbs up. The chicago tribune raves " so funny it's scary!"- summaries suck just read ok? rr
1. Over the River and Through the Woods

**The Mononoke of ****Forest**** Keep**

**Chapter 1:** Over the river and through the woods

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Disclaimer: You break it you buy it, oh wait, wrong one…umm how did it go? Oh yeah, not mine, don't sue.

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"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?"

"I said 'no'."

Kagome tried to drift back to sleep, but she had a headache…

"How bout now?"

... and she named it 'the twins'.

She shifted in her seat trying to find a position that would allow her to drift away from the noise and aggravation, but found that even after five hours of driving the elusive position was still not to be found. So she settled for turning her gaze out the window to watch the passing countryside.

At the beginning of their journey from Tokyo, she had only seen tall buildings and people, droves of people. Eventually the buildings tapered off to modest homes with gardens, people were still everywhere but the traffic had moved smoothly, no longer the snails pace of the city. Finally they had left the suburbs behind and the road had cleared as if by magic. The modest homes had disappeared replaced only with tall dark trees and darker shadows. Kagome shivered, she did not like the looks of that forest or the solitude it promised. No she enjoyed the hustle of the city the frenetic pace and the proximity of her friends.

In the country there was nothing. Well not 'nothing', just nothing good. She had her family sure, but the source of amusement they promised would be exhausted in two days. A person could only take so much of mother's good natured suggestions, her jii-chan's ridiculous history lessons, and the twins' antics; before going completely batty. Oh and she had the acres and acres of forest that was part of there new homes property, she glanced at a particularly gnarled tree before shuddering, yeah great a sinister forest, let the good times roll. Then of course there was the house itself, no doubt with its own warren of monster dust bunnies, will the fun never stop. She sighed quietly then forced a small smile upon her pink lips at least she had her cousin Miroku to take the edge off her boredom. His easy smile and mischievous nature were sure to provide some respite from the solitude, that is if he was not too busy chasing girls or with his shrine duties.

"Mamma I have to go to pee." Shippou whined from his place between Kagome and Souta.

Kagome eyed the boy before sighing and resting her cheek against the cool glass of the window. Outside dark clouds were gathering to a point in distance, blotting out the sun and promising an early end to the day. Shippou was fidgeting in his seat and knocked a half open can of soda onto Kagome's lap.

She turned to the younger boy with a groan and sent a glare cool enough to freeze him in place.

"All right, all right, we'll stop at the village before we get home." Mai called from the driver's seat.

Kagome rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze back out the window. There was that word again, 'home', no matter how big or beautiful this new place was, she had a feeling it would never be home to her. Home was the shrine in Tokyo not some mansion in the middle of nowhere. She knew there was no going back there though, not after the fire, a fire that was started by a storm not unlike the one that seemed to be gathering on a distant hill to the north. And with a place her mother referred to as a 'village' she was sure that mall, arcade, and probably school were not in the local's vocabulary.

Distant thunder rolled across the countryside and disturbed Kagome's thoughts just as her family's car pulled up to an old petrol station. The vehicle had hardly settled before Shippou had bound across the seat and out the door in search of the WC.

Kagome took the opportunity to stretch her legs and look around. The village was comprised of several dreary houses, a couple of businesses, a tall building that looked like a combination inn and pub with a single street running down the middle. The raven haired teen bent over to rub the kinks out of her legs when she noticed a boy about her age staring at her from the edge of the forest. Her stomach did a little flip before she averted her gaze; standing straight again she smoothed out the creases in her skirt and prepared to greet the young man. However when she looked back he was gone. Kagome frowned and looked around, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

_Eh, creepy! Probably just my imagination, who has white hair and gold eyes anyway?_

She turned her back to the forest and felt a momentary squeeze of her heart and a tingle that ran the length of her spine; when she looked up she saw that her family was ready to go.

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Ten minutes later and five minutes of 'are we there yet' the car swung off the main road and up a single lane tiled driveway. Though perhaps driveway was a bit of an understatement as the path was in good repair and nearly as wide as the road they had been on; it seemed to stretch perhaps two miles into the distance, at least. The only qualifying feature was the large entrance gate marking it as a private drive. The forest seemed to push a little closer here as if trying to reclaim that which was once theirs, growing right to the tiled drive.

Five more minutes and they had breached the forest's edge to be confronted by their new home, and much to Kagome's chagrin the roiling clouds she had spotted earlier. Mansion had been an understatement, as the building situated on the hill could be considered nothing short of a small castle, like a page right out of feudal Japan. On the bottom slopes of the hill sat a shrine similar in size to the one that had been destroyed by fire in Tokyo, here it was obvious that the forest was indeed trying to take back the land. Miroku certainly had his work cut out for him.

"Ah were finally here." Shippou and Souta chorused as they pulled to a stop in front of the large structure.

Kagome could see Miroku, who must have arrived slightly ahead of them, speaking to a short ugly, slightly green (?)fellow at the front entry way to the castle. He looked up when the car stopped and gave a friendly wave in greeting. The twins were already racing towards him before Kagome had even disentangled herself from her safety belt.

"Ah good Higurashi-dono, you have finally arrived." The squat man greeted the eldest Higurashi with a slight bow. Jii-chan returned the bow and waited for the man to continue.

"I was just telling your grandson here," the man inclined his head towards Miroku, "a little of the Keeps history, quite fascinating really."

Kagome grunted her doubt that anything the man could say would be even remotely interesting; apparently the grunt was just a little too loud because her mother was shooting her the hairy eye while Miroku was walking towards her with a merry twinkle and a wink.

The short man cleared his throat and continued.

"Well perhaps another time then. To the matter at hand, I was bid by my employer to inform you that you may at this point change your mind about this house without consequence."

Kagome's heart swelled with the mere possibility that they could return to the city and leave this Kami forsaken place to the bugs and the squirrels and whatever other dreadful thing was lurking about. Squirrels shudder. Her hopes were dashed however when her mother spoke up next.

"Why ever would we want to change our minds, this place is beautiful?"

The little man shuffled his feat and looked around nervously.

"Yes well, as I was telling your nephew, the place is haunted. You see my master's family has not cared to live here since a visiting relative, some eighty years ago, was paralyzed with fear when two skeletal hands attempted to strangle her while she dressed for dinner one night. She never fully recovered." The old man quaked somewhat as he spoke.

"I, myself, during the course of my duties here as caretaker have witnessed no fewer then five instances myself. We've been through ten maids in the last year alone, only one has stayed."

"Takahashi-sama, my master, left explicit instructions that I was to make it very clear to you all that such a condition exists."

"Jaken, wasn't it?" Jirou enquired.

"Yes."

"Jaken-san, as I'm sure you've noticed we," the old man indicated to Miroku and to his own person, "are quite capable of handling any old spook that might haunt these halls. However, as I'm quite sure you are aware, the fact remains that ghosts, spirits, and the like simply do not exist."

Kagome, who had been watching a particularly sinister looking grasshopper in the tall grass, looked up from her vigil when she caught her grandfather's last words. She heard an incredulous snort come from not fewer then three of her family members, herself included. Not that she believed in that rubbish herself, but to hear such words coming from the man that believed every other school friend she had ever brought home was a youkai in disguise, was surprising to say the least.

Mai moved to stand beside her father and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Jaken-san," the woman interjected, " we appreciate your master's concern, but our minds are quite firmly set, we will take the property and the ghost at value." She smiled to herself with a nod of her head.

Jaken looked first at the old man and then at his daughter before looking each of the assembled family in the face; pausing just a little longer when he reached Kagome. A twinge of what seemed like recognition flickered across his reptilian visage before he turned away. Kagome shuddered unconsciously under the small man's scrutiny. The man shook his head slowly to himself as if saddened.

"The mononoke of forest deep is real, and has been documented for almost five hundred years, since 1503 in fact. It has always made an appearance before the death of any member of the family."

Kagome was paying close attention to the little man now, and thought she heard him whisper something like ' and has been the cause of more then a few' just under his breath, however before she could question him herself, Miroku fired back a witty retort.

"So does the family doctor, Jaken-san, but you realize that proves nothing?"

Jaken snorted at the comment then nodded to himself.

"Well I can see you won't be swayed, if you don't mind living with a vengeful spirit then so be it, but don't say you weren't warned."

The short toad like man turned and gestured for the Higurashis to follow him through the door.

Miroku nudged Kagome and rolled his eyes gesturing at the retreating figure of Jaken. Kagome giggled at her cousin and moved in for a welcoming hug.

"So little Kagome, it seems you get more beautiful with each passing year." Miroku held his arms wide waiting to embrace the smiling girl.

Kagome had blushed a pale rose before returning an affectionate hug.

"Thank goodness you're here, I'm sure I'd go in…" Kagome momentarily lost the ability to speak when she felt an odd gripping sensation on her bottom, she went rigid for a second before pulling back to stare at her cousin with shocked horror.

Miroku stepped back too with an embarrassed smile while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ooops, did I do that?"

"Miroku!? How could you, your own family…for Kami sake?"

"Well I am adopted, so you see…" He trailed off in a nervous chuckle.

"I know, but still." Kagome gently cuffed him upside his head before pulling him in through the door way.

"Sorry Kagome; sometimes they have a mind of their own."

"See that they mind their own 'business' or I can't be held responsible for what happens." Kagome pantomimed chopping off said appendages with an ax. Miroku gulped melodramatically before laughing and ruffling the girl's hair.

"That's my girl." He smiled at the young woman

Kagome beamed at him "Come on you pervert lets see what all the fuss is about."

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­A/N So what do you think? Please read/review.

check out my other fics:

The Sleeper

Robes of a different color


	2. Caveat Emptor

**The Mononoke of ****Forest**** Keep**

**Chapter 2:** Caveat Emptor

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Disclaimer: Still not mine, pending litigation.

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Bored

So terribly terribly bored.

Bored bored bored bored bored bored.

"Ehhhayaa!" The young man sighed irritably, before flopping on the tufted turf. He trained his golden gaze to the green canopy above him and scented the wind. His silver mane splayed out on the grass below him, small twigs and brambles caught in its lengths, making him look wild, untamed.

What he wouldn't give for a little sport. A squirrel, a fox, a cat, a …

Then he caught the scent. Mingled with the unmistakable tang of electrified ozone was the scent of a girl.

His eyes narrowed and flashed crimson a predatory grin already spreading across his face. He barked a short feral laugh; a stupid human girl was in his forest. He cracked his knuckles purposefully admiring the way his claws gleamed in the fading light.

"Well bitch, let the hunt begin."

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Kagome was not quite sure what she expected the inside of the castle to look like, but was still unprepared for the sight that greeted her. The front entry opened into a modest vestibule that connected to a long hallway. In the growing darkness she could see a light, as well as the silhouettes of her family, at its end. She padded closely behind the retreating figure of Miroku into the light of the great hall. Here the room widened to easily the size of a small house and the ceiling swept up nearly fifty feet. It was everything she imagined a feudal lord's castle to be, that is to say everything her old home was not. She groaned imperceptibly and found the figure of Jaken beside an unfamiliar female.

The woman appeared to be slightly older then Kagome, by two or three years. About Miroku's age, she would guess. She was thin with an athletic build, undeniably pretty with gentle warm brown eyes, the colour of polished cherry wood. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a sensible ponytail. Though she stood with her head demurely bowed there was a tightness in her smile a certain tilt of her head; that belied an inner strength, a fire. Her plain knee length black dress and white apron marked her as the maid, the only remaining maid.

Kagome snuck a peek at her cousin, and was not surprised to find a rather large appreciated smile plastered on his face. Perhaps appreciative was not quite the right word, giddy, goofy, idiotic… Kagome sighed, such a predictable reaction. Well perhaps if the maid wasn't a total airhead Kagome would have at least one person her own age to talk to.

Mai was surveying the great hall, delighted to find everything as it had been the day she had agreed to purchase the property. On the walls still hung the historic tapestries depicting ancient battles and fearsome beasts, the hard wood floors glowed with a soft burnished luster.

"Please allow be to present Taijya Sango, the maid." Jaken inclined his head to the black clad woman who bowed at her name.

"She has graciously offered to remain in your employ, and will be able assist you with whatever you need."

Kagome noticed Miroku's eye twitch at the statement. She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side. He turned his head and mouthed the question 'what? jealous?' and arched an eyebrow suggestively.

She rolled her eyes at him and made a gagging motion with her finger and mouth. Miroku arched the other eyebrow pretending to misinterpret the fairly obvious sign she was making.

Kagome looked confused for a second when she saw her cousin's reaction. Then as if a magic light bulb went on over her head she simultaneously narrowed her eyes at him and turned beet red. She was about to smack him when he made a placating gesture with his hands and snickered under his breath. Kagome rolled her eyes but then giggled too. She noticed Sango sneaking glances at their antics with her head still demurely lowered, and suddenly Kagome felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment for her immature behavior. She cleared her throat, and smoothing the front of her skirt trained her eyes back to the toad like man who was saying his goodbyes.

"Now if you are quite sure that you will not reconsider, I will take my leave."

Mrs. Higurashi and her father shook their heads 'no', and smiled at the departing man. Miroku raised his hand in farewell and called after the retreating figure.

"Have a safe drive Jaken-san."

Sango gave a low welcoming bow to her new employers and intoned formally, "I bid you welcome to the Forest Keep." She stood and smiled "Please follow me, I have tea waiting for you all in the library."

If Kagome had been impressed by the great hall and the vestibule she was in awe of the library. She could tell by the look on her mother's face that she had never seen this room either. The long low room was paneled in a dark mahogany at the end of which was large stained glass window. Kagome was a bit puzzled though by the seemingly western style room in the ancient Japanese castle.

Sango noticing the reaction and quickly explained, "The young master of the keep was well traveled and had journeyed to Europe in his youth. He had this room reconstructed to remind him of the time he spent with his mother; I was told it was his favorite room."

Kagome scanned the room, it wasn't hard to tell why, the room was lovely and had a very cozy feel. Or that's what she thought until her eyes fell upon a suspicious looking dull red stain marring the wood floor beneath Sango's feet.

Kagome's mother must have noticed the stain as well because she was already calling Sango's attention to it.

"Sango dear, it seems as though something has been spilt there." Mai pointed to a spot right in front of Sango. The maid flinched as if slapped then looked down and took an involuntary step back.

Sango cleared her throat then seemed to mentally steal herself, "Yes ma'am." She replied in a low voice, "blood has been spilt there."

"Well it'll have to be cleaned up, I can't have a blood stain in my library now can I." Mai chirped brightly. Kagome noticed that her grandfather was scanning the book titles on the shelves, and that Souta and Shippou where happily munching on the almond biscuits that had been set for tea. Kagome groaned and felt that weird tingling sensation again; she just knew that Sango was not talking about some recent spill from some household accident.

Sango replied in the same low anxious voice "It's the blood of lady Kikyou, who was murdered by her fiancé the young Lord Inuyasha on the eve of their wedding, nearly five hundred years ago. Lord Inuyasha survived her three years and then quite suddenly vanished under very mysterious circumstances. His body was never found but his guilty spirit still haunts the keep and the surrounding forest. I'm afraid the bloodstain can not be removed."

Kagome had gone stark white at the maid's words, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood rigid. She knew that not a single word that Sango had said was in jest. This was not some lark she had invented for jollies, those dark old trees and the gathering storm that seemed to converge directly over the estate where testimony enough. She looked over to gauge her family's reaction. They all seemed oblivious to all the sinister evidence, her cousin was even smiling brightly at the nervous maid.

"Nonsense, I have just the thing." Kagome waited for him to produce some sort of ofuda or talisman to banish the stain put sweat dropped when instead he produced a container that appeared to be an all purpose stain remover. She wasn't quite sure whether to be more surprised that her initial assumption was wrong or by the fact that Miroku was carrying around stain remover.

"Kazaana champion stain remover and detergent will clean it up in no time," and before Kagome or the nervous house keeper could interfere the monk had fallen to his knees, and was rapidly scouring the floor. In a few moments no trace of the bloodstain could be seen.

He stood with a triumphant smile and dusted off himself off, " I knew Kazaana would do it!"

He looked around at his admiring family, but no sooner had the words left his mouth when a horrifying flash of lightning lit up the somber room followed by a fearful peal of thunder. The timing seemed to be too much for Sango because she slid bonelessly to the ground, or would have had Miroku not caught her.

Kagome on the other hand had gone completely rigid and was staring glassily out the window. For and instant, just one moment she was sure she saw a flash of red streaking beyond the casement and the faint unmistakable sound of sinister laughter. She gulped but dared not move.

Then the moment was broken.

"Oh my, the poor dear. What monstrous weather." Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. "Well let's get her off to bed."

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"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Yes Jaken, I'm here."

"It is done, they refused the offer, and took the house willingly even after the warnings."

"Good, good. And the girl?"

"Lithe and lovely as a fawn."

"…"

"Hmhh," the reptilian youkai cleared his throat "umm, what I meant to say was yes she bares a remarkable resemblance, more so then any of the others, even."

"Hmph, and the weather?"

"A storm, as always. A shame really, I thought they would refuse after the warning."

"Yes a shame, it's always the same."

"Yes, such a waste." The small man nodded his head as he cradled the cell phone in the crook of his neck, swerving to avoid a fallen branch in the road. He had almost left the storm behind.

"No doubt she'll die quite horribly, pity." The cold voice of the Western lord for one brief shining moment held the faintness trace of genuine remorse before he pressed the button to end the call.

Alone in his office he looked to an ancient portrait that hung on the far wall depicting two silver haired demons; One tall and elegant the other rugged with an arrogant smirk, both handsome; obviously brothers.

_…a pity…_

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Lessons in Latin: Caveat Emptor roughly translates as "to the buyer,

Beware."

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**A/N:** So that's chapter 2, hope you liked it. For anyone who's interested this story is based loosely (very loosely) on a famous short story by one of my favorite authors. Guess the author or story title and get a chapter dedicated to you

Please check out my other stories:

**The Sleeper**

**Robes of a different color**

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**Read and Review**: your opinion only counts if you give it. So let me know what you think.


	3. What Dreams May Come part I

**The Mononoke of Forest ****Keep**

**Chapter 3 part I:** What dreams may come

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**Disclaimer:** There once was a man from Nantucket , who kept Inuyasha in a bucket, he claimed it was his, 'til the people at Viz. Told him he could go suck it. So apparently Inuyasha's not mine. sigh>_

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She had not been this way before, so it was entirely possible that this was the way out. She quickened her pace, and turned another corner. Another dead end, she back tracked and dashed through a sliding door into another corridor. She could hear him now, he wasn't close but she knew she didn't have much time. She redoubled her effort to move quickly and quietly.

_The hall seemed to extend on and on, an infinite length, stretching into the unknown. Had she been this way before? Was she going in circles? She spun around trying to find her bearings, outside the storm raged on. She could hear him closer now, his stride leisurely yet purposeful. Her heart sped and twittered erratically. An icy knot had formed in the pit of her stomach and began to radiate out painfully. It was numbing her arms and legs, shooting up the length of her spine. Fear was constricting her lungs each breath came as if it would be her last, and she conceded that it might be in fact her last if she didn't move. _

_Her efforts to move silently were abandoned as she rushed with abandon towards the end of the hall, but the hall stretched on and on without interruption. Each of her efforts to move quickly was met with the equal and opposite effect. She knew that at the speed her mind was telling her legs to go she should be flying, but she had barely moved ten feet. _

_The wound on her side was pulsing painfully; each heart beat seemed to sap her strength. The blood was flowing quite freely now and she knew there wasn't much time. Rain had plastered her hair to her face and neck, but it was blood that drenched her shirt. If she could just make her legs obey, but they wouldn't. Her strength was waning, and her legs were cold and unresponsive. _

_She could hear him plainly now, no more then twenty feet away. Though the dim corridor did not let her see the figure of the man she knew came relentlessly on, she also knew that he could see her. There would be no escape now, not that there had been much hope to begin with. _

_Her heart lurched painfully, a constriction that choked a tearful gasp. She refused to give up; she would not go down without a fight. She would not just lie down and die. Slowly she started to move again, it wasn't fast enough she knew, but she tried. _

_Down the long dark corridor she shuffled, the gaping wound on her side seemed like a memory now. She could feel the heat of his gaze, almost taste the hatred that hung in the air, the betrayal she felt was nearly more tangible then her wound. She willed her numb limbs to move faster, but the hall way kept going and going and then she saw it. A light, she dove forward into the sanctuary of the library, their library and then she collapsed on the floor. Her legs could go no further; her arms would not lift to attack. She hung her head and waited and then he was there. _

_His strong profile silhouetted in the door, his lovely long hair loose, they way she liked it. His red hoari was doubly so, stained with her blood, like the tips of his claws. His lips that were so often tilted in a frown or a glower were smiling now. Not the rare and beautiful smile that only she saw, this was a wicked cruel smile. Most shocking were his eyes, his exquisite amber eyes, always so expressive, held only hatred. _

_Her tears were falling freely now, salty rivers washing away the dirt and blood. She hung her head, seeing him with that look in his eyes was too much; the pain to great. Though her brain was yelling at her to escape, to scream, to thrash and kick, and bite. Her heart was already dead, that look had killed her, why escape to live a hollow half life. She heard her own voice, and even to her it seemed far away. _

_"Why?" She chocked, just a hollow whisper. _

_"Speak up my love, I can't hear you." He sneered his face mere inches from hers now. _

_"why?" She repeated but as quite as the flapping of butterfly wings, her bangs casting shadows on her tear stained face. _

_He seemed not to hear, or at least not to care that she had asked a question. _

_"Hmph, what's the matter bitch, the game has just begun." She looked up at him, his smile had widened and his canines glinted wickedly in the gloom. His lovely amber eyes, the eyes she loved so much, flashed crimson as he pushed her back. She couldn't breath and it burned like liquid fire, and then there was blackness. _

Kagome bolted up with the sound of thunder still ringing in the air, and giggling. Giggling? Her eyes scanned the oppressive grayness of her room to find the source of the noise, and then she saw them.

"Souta! Shippou! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!"

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A/N Wow you guys who reviewed were so nice! It means a lot to me. Only one guess on the author/title- Poe is not correct but they are both 19th century authors, though not contemporaries or countrymen. So keep your guesses coming.

I know this chapter is extraordinarily short but part two will be longer

-this chapter is dedicated to xmiss merryx who writes very funny reviews and whose whining motivates me to update

As always check out my other works:

**Robes of a Different color**: For Inuyasha purists this one's set in the Sengoku Jidai

**The Truth about Cats**- also a canon setting

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**R/R** I update based on popular response, meaning unless people seem interested I'm pretty slow to up date. Questions, criticism, comments are always welcome. 


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